School will have 4 classes in one room

TEACHERS at a school in rural Co Mayo will have to teach four classes in the one room if education cutbacks go ahead as proposed next year.

Mairtin Ó Maicin, principal of Killawalla National School near Westport, said it was an “extreme worry” that he will have to try and teach four different curricula in one classroom if the Government does not renege on its budget cuts.

The school, a DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) school — which means it has high numbers of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds — currently has three teachers, but is set to lose one under this year’s budget proposals.